The article focuses on URL-Shortener APIs that appear in ProgrammableWeb's API directory. It includes Proofeditors.com and the popular Bit.ly API. Special features of the APIs include added security, special tools, and shortening for unique platforms. Also listed: 32 Bit.ly mashups.

Twitter recently announced what developers have been expecting since at least its Chirp conference. Links posted to Twitter will soon be passed through the company's own link shortener, t.co. It could be bad news for other services built to fill the link shortening need, such as Bit.ly (our Bit.ly API profile).

Hey there, bit.ly. You've been garnering your share of praise--and jealous criticism--lately. It's barely past your first birthday and you've raised a few million in venture capital and are going steady with Twitter, one of the hottest sites of the moment. Your competitors publicly proclaim you as unbeatable. What's your secret, bit.ly?